You're Still Weird
by BakaMick
Summary: A NaruHina I had rattling around in my head from before Naruto went off to train with Killer Bee. Kinda my take on what could have happened and how it could finish, I did try and modify it to fit some of the new developments. Plaese R&R
1. Recap

Wooo, I am back. I am trying to get this up as fast as I can, but I'm typing it from hand written notes and my handwriting...god do I need to work on it. I just wanted to upload it as soon as I finished each chapter. So here we go, Chapter 1 of my new story, as terrible as it may be. But, meh, read, review, tell your friends to read it, force them to review it.

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It was an unstable peace, a peace born out of necessity rather than want, but a peace none the less. Each of the five elemental nations had Ninja running all over their respective nations, handling low and medium level missions while the majority of their more lethal forces, mainly Jonin, stayed in and around their individual main villages to deter the idea of invasion during this time of vulnerability. Although it had been five years since the end of the Forth Great Ninja War, sparked by the remainder of the Akatsuki playing off the paranoia of the newly allied Ninja Villages, rebuilding was still going on in the outskirts of the nations, not to mention the number of Ninja that had died during the fray, it had near enough halved the numbers in each village, everybody was still recovering to some extent.

Part way into this 'Forth Great Ninja War' the Akatsuki made their final move, each of the five Kage saw this and knew that it was in their best interest to join together and stop them, even if it was temporary, they could kill each other later. The Raikage and Killer Bee had dispatched of Kisame when he dropped his ruse and attacked Killer Bee while he was thought to be alone, he didn't count on the brothers giving themselves matching seals on their upper arms to tell the other when one was fighting and where they were, once the Raikage had shown up the battle turned quickly, Kisame was immediately put on the defensive but was ultimately pounded into "Fish-paste" as Killer Bee so succinctly rapped, by a high level dual Lightning Jutsu released by the brothers and amplified by the water used by Kisame as he was sure they would not risk electrocuting one other, but by harmonising their chakra they ensured that any residual lightning that went toward either was swiftly absorbed and redirected into the original attack. Zetsu had had not fared much better as he was thwarted by the Mizukage and Tsuchikage after putting up unimpressive fight, the Tsuchikage, being a master of the Earth Element, stopped Zetsu from escaping underground, while the Mizukage took up the offence and attempted to dispatch him by using a Lava Ninjutsu, at which point Zetsu split and the White half closed the distance to the Tsuchikage in order to grab him so he could occupy the Mizukage, trying to split the two Kage from each other, this was done by make a clone of her, which he is able to do since he trapped her during the meeting of the five Kage, meanwhile the Black half dealt with the steadily growing lake of lava. It was all for nought though as Zetsu's 'clones' could not put up much of a fight for long and were killed in record time, no matter how many he made, he was unable to stop the inevitable. Much to the ire of both Kage, who stood sizing one another up, as the fight had not settled the adrenalin rush that is usually felt during a high-level clash. Both mentally decided that they had been away from their respective villages for too long, it had only been 1 week of non-stop searching before they found Zetsu and lured him into their trap, but a Kage-less Ninja Village was a prime target and as such one day was too long in both their books.

Kabuto/Orochimaru was nearing Konoha when he encountered Tsunade and Gaara; he immediately let loose the new and improved Resurrection Kinjutsu releasing Itachi, Sasori, Deidara, Kakuzu and Nagato onto the two Kage the battle became a free for all as Kakashi, Gai, and the original Ino-Shika-Cho team join the scrap and slowly the tide turns in their favour, it was an all out mini-war as the five-on-five grew and Gaara and Tsunade swap fists, snakes and sand with Orochi-buto. Kabut-imaru, now on the back foot, realising that he was being pressed, ulls out his 'Ace in the Hole' in the form of a sixth coffin, as the coffin rises, Kakashi swaps fighters with Gaara takes a page from the book of the Sandaime and focus' all his energy into stopping the Kinjutsu, the coffin jerks slowly up and down as both 'The Masked Wonder' and 'Mr I-Like-To-Keep-A-Live-Snake-Up-My-Sleeve-For-Personal-Reasons' struggle for dominance, this provides Tsunade with enough time to get close to her prey and strike, cancelling his hold on the technique and allowing Kakashi to nullify it. As Tsunade's fist collided with him, Kabuto, or whatever remained of the Kabuto side of him, was rendered unconscious allowing the Orochimaru side to fully gain control, but in a severely battered body. Tsunade took note of this and waved the others off indicating that Orochimaru was to be killed by her and her alone, the rest of the surrounding ninja had already finished their respective fights, knowing that they could not kill the newly resurrected nin, they opted to subdue them, using the Ino-Shika-Cho group, Inoichi pulled out a move that was thought impossible for any Yamanaka and forcibly ripped the consciousness of each ressurectee out of their respective bodies, while Shikaku used his own modified version of the Shadow Sewing Jutsu, which was to, instead of having 3, 4, 5 or even a 20 individual shadows piercing the opponent, the shadow was split even further and even more finely making a single shadow into over 100,000, this coupled with the double size technique used by Choza to hold them in place even further, as their minds were sure to return to their bodies at any moment, was enough to give the Godime enough time to deal with Orochimaru and Kabuto's body, cancelling the Kinjutsu...or that was the theory. As one both Kage level ninja charged, Orochimaru taking out Kusanagi and aiming at the Hokage's head, dodging to the lower left Tsunade charged her chakra for a punch, but left her hand unclenched as she thrust it forward, straight into her opponents chest, carefully aiming in-between the fourth and fifth ribs on the left side of his torso, with her whole hand embedded in Orochimaru/Kabuto's upper body the pushed her hand down, grabbing for the traitors heart breaking his fifth rib with a sickening snap that was barely audible over the scream he let out, she toyed with him for a second, telling him that "...the damage may be repairable if..." she let this hang in the air , looking into his wide eyes searching for any hint of remorse, before tearing her hand from his body "...I could forgive you for what you have done...I doubt even Naruto could." She finished in a quiet voice. The body fell to the ground as blood poured from the hole and Tsunade crushed the heart in her hand, and ordered the corpse burnt and scattered to the wind.

This was all five years ago now, all Kage were now back in their own villages overseeing all manner of requests and work, which inevitably incurred a large amount of paperwork forcing Tsunade to increase the size of her secret sake stash. She sighed out in frustration and rage at the ever compounding pile of paper that now towered above her, leaving back in her chair and looking up, the Senju Princess contemplated the ceiling, and the cost to install a giant hamster bottle full of sake, smiling to herself as she slowly drifted into a paperwork induced coma, 'It's three in the morning DAMN IT, I'M GETTING SOME SLEEP!' were the last thoughts through her mind as she fell to sleep and dreamt of the 'Giant Hamster-Human-Sake-Bottle' while slowly muttering "Not long now" and "Sakkkeeeee!" to herself . Many people in 'The Village Hidden In The Leaves' were also enjoying a well deserved rest, The Land of Fire was almost fully rebuilt, and the stability of trade negotiations were finally settling down as compromises were made and a few subtle bribes swapped hands, no-one liked it (except those profiting) but it was a necessary evil. But there was one mind in Konoha that was still turning, that refused to submit to the embrace of the dream world for a little while longer, this was the mind of The Protagonist...I mean Uzumaki Naruto. The boy, turned 21 year old man, lay in bed, eyes closed, focusing on the slow breathing of the woman who lay to his left and was currently using him as a pillow, opening his eyes and looking at his right hand which was coupled with her left, his thumb slowly caressing hers, his eyes now moving up her arm and to her face, he used his left hand to move a wisp of raven hair from her face. Hyuga Hinata unconsciously nuzzled into the hand that now took up residence on the left side of her face, thumb strumming her cheek. She had waited so long to reveal her feelings for him and then waited even longer to find out for his feelings for her. 'Has it really been five years since Madara? It doesn't seem like that long ago.' He thought to himself.

(Cue Inevitable Flashback)

**Word had reached Naruto that all of Akatsuki had been dealt with...all but one. "Madara!" Naruto seethed to himself as the information from the past few days ran through his head for what seemed like the five thousandth time. He sat on top of the Yondime's head on Hokage Monument looking out over the village, he had fought for the sake of this village, for the sake of his friends and the people that recognised him for the pure kind hearted person he was, and he would continue to do so, against Madara, against Sasuke, against anyone he had to. Naruto knew that the only way to guarantee the safety of his precious people was to take Madara out of the picture. His fist clenched as he envisioned the man standing on top of Hokage Tower while Konoha burned around him, he was the man that had caused so much suffering, not only Naruto's life, but in the lives of countless other men, women, children, families...the list was endless and was sure to grow, exponentially, if nothing was done. Naruto never like the idea of killing another person, in self defence or cold blood, he couldn't see why someone had to die to ensure someone else lived...until now, he now knew that for every person that thought as he did, that there are alternatives to death, there was one or more that thought that violence, and thus killing, was the only option, and for the most part, these people will not be swayed. Regardless, he would protect every-single person he is able to, even at the cost of his own life. He would try to avoid killing if he could, but it always seemed like an inevitability to him, and as such he had to make his peace with it. As he reached this conclusion he felt a familiar presence looming above and behind him, "Sasuke?" he whispered to himself, straining his eyes in the fading light of dusk to make out the figure clad in a black robe with the red clouds of the Akatsuki emblazoned on it. "It's time, Naruto. We are going to end this...tonight..." as the last word registered to Naruto, Sasuke casually turned round and began walking into the woods "...follow me." He finished, his back still to Naruto who had jumped to the spot Sasuke once occupied, and now proceeded to follow his 'friends' receding figure into the trees. They jumped from branch to branch, slowly gaining speed, almost playing, seeing if the other could keep up, soon they were moving at speeds that even a seasoned Jonin would have trouble with. Sasuke landed on a particularly thick branch, focused more chakra into his landing leg and jumped high, propelling himself into the middle of the field ahead of the pair, Naruto, not wanting to be out done, smirked and launched himself with such force that the branch audibly craked underfoot he landed a good ten foot further than Sasuke, spun on his heel to face the rouge nin, kunai in hand, smirk still fixed in place.**

"**You never change Dobe, still childish as ever I see." Sasuke said in reply to his 'best friend's" antics.**

"**You can't improve on perfection...Uke." Naruto rebuked with a face splitting grin.**

"**Uke..?" Sasuke's eye twitched ever so slightly. "How long you been holding onto that little gem?"**

"**Since the Land of Iron...remember...the Kage Summit" The grin never leaving his face, his eyes affixed to Sasuke's.**

"**I have to hand it to you Dobe, I never thought you would keep a single thought in your head for more than a few hours." Sasuke dryly replied, a small grin of his own creeping onto his features**

"**Most things will and have changed since you left...Uke"**

"**And thankfully some things don't, for example you're still very susceptible to Genjutsu I see"**

**Naruto saw the world around him slowly melt as he found himself bound by chains, that had appeared from nowhere, to the floor, if you could call it that, he was just surrounded by blackness with a small bit of light eliminating a minute section of space around him, the source of which eluded him. He was contemplating this when Sasuke honed into view. "DAMN IT! DAMN YOU! DAMN YOU'R BROTHER! DAMN THAT FUCKING SHARINGAN!" He yelled into the blackness.**

"**Naruto, be quiet, we don't have much time, it won't take him long until he is able to see into this world." Sasuke said sharply.**

"**What are you going on about? If this is some kind of kind of trick, it won't work. I will stop you, I will stop Madara, I WILL PROTECT KONOHA AND THE KYUBI WILL DIE WITH ME AND THERE IS NOTHING YOU..."**

"**Damn it Naruto..SHUT UP! WE DONT HAVE TIME AND IF YOU REALY WANT TO KILL MADARA YOU'R GOING TO NEED MY HELP! SO SHUT YOU'R BIG, FUCKING MOUTH AND LISTEN TO ME FOR ONCE!" Sasuke panted now standing inches from Naruto gripping the front of his orange and black jacket.**

**Naruto studied him for a moment, and could find no hint of insincerity in his eyes 'But this is a genjutsu, he can make me see whatever he wants...' he reasoned to himself '...may as well play along for now.' "Fine, but why now, why not when we were in the Land of Iron?" Naruto questioned.**

"**Madara is strong, stronger than me or you, stronger than Itachi was at his peak, I barely beat him when he was weakened. It was then that I learned the truth about my brother, about why he left the village, why he slaughtered my entire clan. I knew that I wouldn't be able to beat Madara unless had help, so I played along with his assumptions and how he thought I should be acting. I also needed one more thing..."**

"**Slow down a second, I knew that your brother wasn't majorly evil, I mean he did make me eat a bird that one time but he let me go when he was supposed to capture me."**

"**We don't have time Dobe, you need to trust me." Sasuke rushed.**

"**You want me to trust you...? Ha, after all you've done to me, to Konoha, TO SAKURA-CHAN? YOU WANT ME TO TRUST YOU?" Naruto stared down the 'last' Uchiha before taking a deep breath. "Look, to be honest, I want to trust you, I really do, but for me to do that, I need ALL the facts."**

"**We really don't have time for this..." Sasuke impatiently said, shaking his head.**

"**Humour me." Naruto snapped.**

**"FINE!" Sasuke then began to divulge every bit of information as concise and detailed as he could, the circumstances around Itachi's defection, his implanting Sasuke's Sharingan with _Amerteratsu and fixing it to activate on contact with Madara's and what Madara told him about his brother. He explained Madara to Naruto as best he could, about his Sharingan being composed of his brothers and his own becoming the 'Eternal _Mangekyō Sharingan', that he fought with the Shodaime using the Kyubi, formed the Uchiha Clan in Konoha and eventually formulated his plan to release and subdue the Jubi. "...and that's pretty much it, since we last saw each other after the 'Kage Summit' I convinced Madara to implant Itachi's eyes into my own under the ruse that it was all to beat you..." Naruto's face fell into one of shock. "...Itachi gave his last breath to ensure that Madara died, that attempt failed. He would want this, he would want to be a part of Madara's undoing, however indirectly." Naruto's face softened slightly but still remained in a state of shock at these words. "In any case, I now have an _'Eternal _Mangekyō Sharingan' of my own, I haven't had much practice with it yet, but I should be able to negate his 'Space-Time Jutsu' somewhat, and because he won't be expecting it, it should give us a small advantage." Explained Sasuke. "OK, let's see if I have this right...You loved your brother...he killed you clan on the orders of Oji-San, Danzo (who you killed) and the two old guys that are always harassing Baa-Chan...so you then hated your brother...you fought him while he was weakened...killed him...learned why he did what he did...decided you loved him again and to honour his wish of protecting Konoha by sticking with the guy you brother tried to kill in order to gain the Sharingan 3.0, team up with me at the right moment (which is now, apparently) and finish what your brother couldn't do...ending Madara? Did I forget anything?" Naruto concluded. "I know it sounds farfetched, but it's the truth Dobe, I swear it." Sasuke pleaded. "Let's say, for arguments sake, that I do believe you, what do we do from...urgh" Naruto lurched as Sasuke appeared in front of him with his sword buried in his gut. Sasuke leaned in and whispered into Naruto's ear. "Madara is here, he can see and hear us, please believe me I will bring us out of this genjutsu and as soon as we're out head to your 4 o'clock, that's where Madara is. We are going to have to work out some sort of plan as we go." As Sasuke finished and was about to release the illusion, he was hit back, as he flew, the environment started to change into the Uchiha Clan compound training ground. "What's going on here?" Sasuke yelled at Naruto once he landed. "Don't look at me, I'm just as confused as you are right now." Naruto retorted to Sasuke's glare, as he now found himself free of his bindings. "I could shed some light on the situation for you." Both Genin stiffened at the voice, recognising it instantly. **

(Inevitable Flashback will continue next chapter)

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I'm sorry for all you NaruHina fans, but I promise there will be a huge amount of fluff coming your way, so expect to gag or squee soon, also I would like to point out that I am aware that I am shite at writing fights.

Please R&R, my life depends on it.


	2. One Last Loose End

Much love to everyone who has read, extra love to those that have and will review. BTW if you don't review, I'm gunna tell Father Christmas, and he won't be happy!

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(Inevitable Flashback continued)

**Both teenagers steadied themselves as the figure emerged from behind a corner, his eyes almost glowing, surveying them, taking in every possible weakness and advantage should the need arise. Sasuke was the first to gather himself. "How? How is this possible? YOU SHOULD BE DEAD!"**

"**Yes, yes I should...and I am...Otouto." The figure loosely explained as he emerged from the shadows.**

"**Itachi? Uchiha Itachi?" Naruto finally spoke. "But...how?" He hated copying Sasuke but honestly couldn't find another way of asking.**

"**The raven I made you swallow was infused with a copy of me, that was set to manifest when you were attacked while under the influence of a genjutsu cast by a Sharingan." Itachi clarified.**

"**WHY NOT BEFORE I GET ATTACKED?" Naruto yelled.**

"**To either give you a chance to talk to Sasuke or get information from Madara." **

"**Oh." Was all Naruto could muster.**

"**Sasuke..." Itachi continued. "...I heard everything you said to Naruto, I don't have much time here, this technique is set to release this genjutsu and block Naruto from all other genjutsu while my chakra is still in his system disrupting it every so often, we have about thirty seconds, I think." Itachi reflected.**

"**But Madara can..."**

"**No he can't..." Itachi cut Sasuke off. "...I moved us from his gaze, it was originally to give Naruto's mind a chance to recover from whatever you or Madara may have put him through. But seeing as that is now a non-issue, it will be for you to coordinate and plan your attack on Madara, I've gotta go , my chakra's almost done, but you will have another four or five minutes to prepare. Good bye Naruto, I know you will do greater things than this in the coming years. Otouto...I am proud of you, I knew you would use my eyes, and I am glad I can help you in some small way, hopefully my eyes will see a better future with you, good bye."**

"**WAIT!" Sasuke cried as he ran to the fading Itachi "...please, I need you to..."**

"**Maybe later Otouto, maybe later." Itachi smiled as he leaned forward and poked Sasuke's forehead as he faded completely. Sasuke stood still for a minute staring at where Itachi was before he spoke up. "He would always do that..." He smiled. "...taps my head and tells me 'later'..." answering Naruto's unspoken question, repositioning his stare toward the opening to 'his home' where he had heard that line so often. "...and I always believed him, huh, one more time won't hurt I guess." Sasuke finished to himself, in nothing more than a hush whisper. Naruto walked over to his friend and placed a hand on his shoulder, he wasn't the best person with words, he had been known to let out a few eloquent words in the heat of battle or when someone pissed him off, usually something involving someone's dreams, but in the peace, in the quite, all he had was his actions, and he hoped that this gesture would help convey the words he couldn't seem to find.**

"**So..." Naruto decided to break the silence, "...did ****Orochimaru really bugger you?" He grinned at his friend's twitching eye as he asked his question "Where did the bad man touch you?" to which Sasuke could only smile and eventually started to laugh at.**

"**Damn it Dobe, I haven't laughed like that in...ever." Sasuke stated after a mini laughing fit.**

"**You didn't answer my question...Uke. Huh, that's probably an appropriate title for you now then, isn't it? Sakura-chan and Ino are going to be so disappointed, well maybe not Ino considering, although I don't think they will mind having a gay friend, you could go shopping with them and..." The blonde rambled.**

"**Ok, now we REALLY don't have time for this Dobe!"**

"**I'm waiting for an answer, UKE!"**

"**SHUT UP! Look, I'm not going to squander the only opportunity we have to beat Madara, talking about nonsense with you. Once we come out of Itachi's...whatever this is, Madara will be waiting for us, I will bring you out of the Genjutsu and resume the role of his puppet, once I give you the signal, we take him. Don't start off slow, hit him hard and fast, put everything you have into your first hit and keep at that level, it will take nothing less than that to kill him."**

"**What about his 'time-space-afterimage-jutsu-thing', last time my Rasengan just passed right through him. How are we supposed to hit something like that?"**

"**The reason that your attacks pass through are because of his **_**'Eternal **_**Mangekyō Sharingan', he uses it to send parts of or his whole body into an alternate dimension, one that shares the same space as ours in every possible way but the physical, my **_**new **_**Sharingan should be able to stop him doing that now that it is on par with his, giving you the opportunity to finish him. But because I have had almost no practice with these new eyes, it is possible that I may have to remain out of the fight altogether, and give this my full concentration."**

"**..."**

"**Damn your an idiot, Dobe..." Sasuke shook his head. "...look, he is there; you can see him, hear him, smell him, he is as real as I am, the only difference is that you can't touch him, this is his biggest asset because when he feels threatened he can slip into this 'pocket-world' of his, you can't touch him but he can't touch you either. He won't be expecting me to do anything like this, so when you go at him he will wait for me to jump in front of you saying 'This is our fight' or something similar, when I don't...he will try and use that technique, I will try and stop him, and as far as I can tell there is no way for him to know if it has worked or not until something or someone passes through him."**

"**So..." Naruto looked either in deep thought or constipated.**

"**HOW THE HELL DID YOU BEAT PAIN? YOU CANNOT BE THIS DUMB!" Sasuke steadied himself, while taking a deep calming breath. Naruto just wore his usual grin as he scratched the back of his head. "So...he won't move, Dobe. He will stay exactly where he is, and wait for you to pass through him." Sasuke finished for Naruto.**

"**So that's why I should so all out from the beginning, to not give him a chance to recover."**

"**Yea..." The Sharingan user replied with a look of exasperation "...one big hit, head on. I thought you'd like that plan."**

"**Let's do it!" Naruto half yelled with a devious smirk on his face that was rivalled only by the one that his friend now wore.**

"**You do realise the drawback to this plan though? If I can't stop his technique, we are royally screwed." Joked Sasuke, still smirking.**

"**If I'm gunna go down, I'm gunna go down with a bang! Besides I got faith in you, I was right not to give up on you weren't I?"**

"**Heh, you got lucky Dobe! Don't forget, he should be at 4 o'clock and wait for my signal."**

"**What's the signal?"**

"**You'll know it when you hear it"**

"**Ok...let's kill the bastard!" Naruto stated as they moved from Itachi's world back into Sasuke's, who, as soon as he had control, realised the Genjutsu and focused his new **_**'Eternal **_**Mangekyō Sharingan' onto Madara, looking for any indication that he was about to pull out his signature move, while still holding his 'opponents' eyes. As this was happening, Naruto tapped into the Kyuubi's chakra turning his appearance into that of the younger of the ****Rikudō Sennin's sons, the founder of the Senju clan****, which shocked both Sasuke and Madara, although neither showed it. To any observer, and hopefully those with a Doujutsu, it would seem as though the two were merely staring each other down while readying themselves.**

"**You won't beat me Uzumaki! I am a Uchiha, you CAN'T beat me!"**

"**HAH! Like I haven't heard that before... 'You won't...' 'You can't...' 'It's impossible to...' I have heard every possible ending to both of them two sentences during my life, and you know something, I proved every, single, one of them, wrong!"**

"**Well, you have still yet to bring me back to Konoha; didn't I hear something about a promise to Sakura-chan to bring me back?" Naruto's eyes narrowed 'He never called Sakura-chan "-chan"... that's the signal!' Within a second of making this connection Naruto had jumped and was nearing Madara , who just smirked as he shifted his gaze from one fighter to the other and back, **_**'He thinks he can hit me, he should know his place'**_** Madara thought as Naruto rapidly closed the gap with speed that only the **_**'Eternal **_**Mangekyō Sharingan' could keep up with. The masked man saw that Sasuke had no intention of moving and proceeded to start his 'phase-shift', as he did he felt a slight tug in, what he can only describe as his 'core', fixing his eyes back on Sasuke he was that the younger Uchiha's were locked with his own **_**'He thinks he can stop my jutsu? Foolish boy, he's about 50 years away from giving me any amount of trouble!'**_** Madara inwardly laughed as he pulled control back from Sasuke and completed his technique just as Naruto was about to make contact. Spinning on his heel, Madara brought out a kunai and slashed at Naruto, who used the hand from his failed punch to grab the ground and manoeuvre himself to his feet, pushing off again he reappeared behind the one eyed man spinning and whipping his left foot round at Madara's right temple, who easily caught the glowing teenagers ankle, not before letting it pass through his head though. Madara swung Naruto round to throw his into a tree as Sasuke leapt, throwing kunai and shuriken, the older Uchiha used his own kunai to parry the oncoming threat of pointy objects. Naruto rolled away as he hit the floor and focused on Madara once again, he studied the man, taking in everything he could, his stance, the way he moved...it was then that he saw something, a small rip in his black robe, a rip made by a kunai. **_**'That's it, he can't be both solid and...not solid...at the same time, he needs to be solid to attack, that's when he is vulnerable, if I can just grab a hold of him then I can end the fight.' **_** Naruto manoeuvred himself to stand next to Sasuke to relay his new plan to him.**

"**...got it?" Naruto asked after explaining his idea.**

"**It's got less of a chance of working than mine did, and it is very basic, but why not, may as well give it a go." Sasuke replied.**

**Naruto launched a flurry of attacks at Madara, not letting up for a second. **_**'His movements are so fast, I can't counter like this, it's like fighting the Yondaime again.'**_** Jested Madara as he dodged, what seemed like 3 fists and 2 kicks, simultaneously. He then saw a small opening in his opponent's barrage of limbs and took it, dashing foreword passing through and turning to deliver a kick to the stomach of his attacker. Naruto smiled as he caught the foot in his arms and locked it against his torso, at the same time Sasuke had just finished a jutsu as he slammed his palms to the ground and the tell tale signs of a summoning jutsu appeared. As Naruto struggled to maintain his hold Madara and keep him in position he felt a slight rumble under his feet and knew that Sasuke had started his part of the plan, he now hooked his feet behind Madara's knees bringing him to the ground and rolled onto his back holding his opponent from the back so he faced the sky, immediately after Madara was looking as the dark clouds, six hawks burst from the ground, bearing chains with sealing tags in their beaks, they set to work diving over the struggling form of Madara and Naruto and back into the ground, only to repeat the process as many times as necessary. A chain now fixed the leader of ****Akatsuki****'s head directly upward so he was staring directly into the full Moon, that had now found its way to the highest point in the sky, a whining sound found its way to the captured man's ears, he stained his neck and senses to try and find the source as it seemed to becoming from all around him, it was then that he noticed the silhouette of his captor bearing down on him from the pinnacle of a jump, coming straight out of the Moon.**

"**FUTON: RASENSHURIKEN!" Naruto cried as he threw the ball of chakra at his adversary.**

"**Kage Bunshin?" Madara spoke to himself as he tensed.**

"**That's right, you'll never hurt anyone ever again...now die." The Naruto clone whispered into Madara's ear just as his father's finished technique slammed into them.**

**Sasuke watched on as the jutsu bore down on the pair. "Futon..." he said to himself, "...like I'm gunna let him take all the glory for defeating Madara. KATON: GOUKAKYUU NO JUTSU." The flame left his mouth and as soon as it hit its mark, became an inferno as the fire as augmented by the wind. The cries of Madara's pain were loud and long, every cell of his body was punctured by Naruto's wind attack and burned to nothingness when added with Sasuke's fire.**

**Sasuke looked at Naruto as he landed. "It's over, we did it. You Insane plan actually worked!"**

"**You sound surprised...now about that 'Promise' comment you made."**

"**Don't worry, Dobe. You'll keep you promise to Sakura."**

"**Don't you mean 'Sakura-chan'?"**

"**Shut it Uzumaki!" Sasuke retorted with a twinge of pink on his cheeks. The pair starts heading the way they came, back to Konoha.**

(Inevitable Flashback's Inevitable Time-Skip)

**Two weeks later.**

**Naruto came out of Hokage Tower feeling quite smug with himself, not only had he brought back the man he considered to be his brother in all but blood, but had gotten himself a new bigger, better, apartment with the reward money from bringing Sasuke back, Madara's bounty and payment for what was considered an S-Class mission. Not to mention the look on Sakura's face when she saw Sasuke, she kept saying she was indebted to Naruto and when he refused and told her that it was as much for himself as it was for her she pretty much crushed him with a hug, and he still had the bruised ribs to prove it. All in all, not a bad few weeks, and he still had some leftover money to buy himself Ichiraku's, from what he had just spent furnishing his hew place, new couch, cooker, fridge, freezer...but the thing he spent the most on was a big King-sized bed and the comfiest mattress he could find, he figured he deserved a nice long rest after the past...16 years. He finally had the recognition of the entire village; even the civilian council paid him some respect, although he just chalked that up to him bringing them their Uchiha wonderboy back. Naruto was feeling very smug indeed; there was just one thing that was still fixed to the back of his mind...Hyuga Hinata. **_**'Ok, I'll have a bowl or six of ramen then I really need to talk to her.'**_** Naruto decided to himself as he bore down on the unsuspecting ramen shop.**

"**Yo, Ossan! The usual please!"**

"**Coming up, Naruto."**

"**Wooo, good, I'm starving...Hey Hinata-chan, why don't you join me instead of pretending to be a house plant, at least this way you'll get some food." Naruto called over to the corner of the room, where an audible 'Eep' was heard, slowly Hinata emerged from behind a genjutsu, doing her best impression of a tomato, and made her way over to the vacant seat beside Naruto. "See that's a lot better. Ossan, get her whatever she wants, I'm paying." Naruto grinned at the owner.**

"**N-Naruto-kun, you d-don't have to..."**

"**Oohhh, Naruto, you pulled yourself quite a cutie, heh, you better treat her right or she'll leave you." Joked Teuchi as he started on Hinata's order, which she hadn't made yet but she stalked...I mean...happened to be in the same place as Naruto so often that she often found herself at the ramen bar, hungry and willing to separate from a few Ryo in order to slate that hunger, the result of which was her being there more and more, not just when she was 'practicing her stealth on a friend'.**

**It was Naruto's turn to blush now. "It's not like that Ossan. Ayame, help me out here would you?"**

"**I don't know Naruto-kun, you do make a cute couple, I wouldn't let her go if I were you." Was not the reply he wanted.**

"**I wouldn't leave you Naruto-kun." Hinata near on whispered to herself, but just loud enough so Naruto just may be able to hear if it was deathly quiet and he was paying attention, which unfortunately for Hinata, or fortunately, he was and for that one second she spoke, all noise vanished and left them both stunned, while both Teuchi and Ayame just looked on with smiles on their faces pretending to be oblivious as they placed both ninja's orders in front of them. The rest of the meal was ate in silence except from the small idol pleasantries, 'The weather', 'What have you been up to recently', 'How's your training coming along?'... This continued until the food had been eaten, at which point Naruto asked Hinata if she wanted to go for a walk with him "I just need to talk with you for a few minutes, if that's ok Hinata-chan?" This time the '-chan' registered to her and she blushed furiously as she nodded her head, not trusting her own voice. They left the ramen bar, Naruto paying for both meals, and set off in a random direction in relative silence, basking in the glow of the setting sun, the ambient sounds of the village filling their ears, unconsciously moving closer to one another until their hands brushed together, at which point the gap widened and they both became infinitely intrigued by their own bellybuttons and fingers. The decision to stop and sit on a nearby bench overlooking a crisp calm body of water was made in perfect synchronicity as much as it was done in silence. As they sat looking at the small currents of water and the miniscule waves formed on the surface slowly lapping against the shore, Naruto found his voice.**

"**I'm sorry. I'm sorry I made you wait so long for an answer Hinata-chan." He started.**

"**Y-You have n-nothing t-to apologise..."**

"**Yes I do..." Naruto cut her off, he didn't raise his voice or speak harshly, but the tone of his voice told her that he needed to finish, and the ever-patient Hinata would give him that at least. "...and you need to know why I did nothing after Konoha was destroyed. Pain heard you say you loved me..." Hinata blushed at the memory and fought the urge to pass out. "...and so did the woman he was with, which means that before I got to them, they may have sent information back to the rest of Akatsuki. When I heard you were still alive, I was so relived I was so overjoyed, so overwhelmed that I couldn't think anything but...'Thank you, thank you for not taking her.'..." Naruto's eyes welled up with the memory, as he battled back the tears he felt Hinata's hand cover his and squeeze slightly, which he returned and looked to where her face should be, but was greeted by veil of dark blue hair with a red glow emanating from behind, he smiled to himself as he continued. "...after I recovered, I began to think about it, Pain was dead, the woman with him left Akatsuki and I thought I could answer you, then I heard that Sasuke had joined them, and I had no way of knowing if he had told them about the way you felt for me from what he saw back in the academy and before he left..." Hinata's head shot up at this. "...Sakura-chan pretty much told me flat out a few days ago...I didn't want to put you in any unnecessary danger, I wouldn't be able to go through seeing you like 'that' again, Hinata-chan. I realise that, as ninja's, we are never going to be completely out of danger, but now that 'the worst' is over, I think you deserve an answer." Hinata sat beside him with bated breath. "I'm just sorry I don't have more of an answer for you, I do feel something for you Hinata-chan, and it's more than friendship, and it's different from what I used to feel for Sakura-chan. I'm not sure what it is, I wouldn't say it's 'Love', but I'm not really sure what this kind of love is supposed to feel like...ah I'm rambling...all I know, Hinata-chan, is that I feel very strongly toward you, and I want to find out what these feelings are before anything happens. Your too important to me to go rushing into anything, I would hate to lose you in any way." Naruto realised a breath, and immediately felt ten tonnes lighter. Hinata, however was stunned, she had dreamt of this day for so long, ok, he didn't say "I love you too", but it wasn't far off, and the amount of ways she has gone over this scenario in her head could rival a Nara, and this setting was in the top 10 at least.**

"**Naruto-kun..." she paused to give his hand another squeeze to let him know she is still there, gaining a little more courage with every passing moment. "...I have waited 12 years to hear you say something like that, I can wait a little while longer for you, just know that I will always be here for you, no matter what." She was calm and collected on the outside, but her insides were at war, one half wanted to jump him, the other wanted to faint, the result was what was seen on the outside. She laced their fingers together, a small victory for the 'Jump him now!' half of her, and felt his hand squeeze hers once again. They let the silence wash over them once again, as the sun began its last few moments of dominating the skyline.**

**It was defiantly a good few weeks for Uzumaki Naruto. As for Hyuga Hinata, these past few hours had pretty topped all of her birthdays combined, she would have spent them in a perpetual daze if it wasn't for the adrenalin rush of seeing Naruto and hearing what he had to say.**

(Inevitable Flashback and Inevitable Flashback's Inevitable Time-Skip over)

It seems only yesterday that he was sat on that bench with her, it had in fact been five years. The young man turns his head from the ceiling to the woman now using his chest as a makeshift pillow, smiling at her sleeping form. It may not have quite been love back then, but it wasn't long until it was.

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Sorry that the ENTIRE chapter is flashback, but I just kept typing and this is what came out. To those NaruHina fans out there, PREPARE FOR EPIC FLUFF! The next chapter is dedicated to all you. READ AND REVIEW! DO IT! DO IT NOW!

P.s I know that the latest chapter of the Naruto manga shows Naruto in Nine-Tails-Chakra Mode trying to make the Rasengan and producing something else (Obscureity FTW) but in my version, both the Rasengan and Futon: Rasenshuriken are possible in this mode, call it artistic lisence :P (and the fact that I came up with this a few months ago and I wanted Naruto and Uke to have a colaboration technique)


	3. I Love Your

Thank you all for reading this story, and if you haven't...then you're on the wrong page, you gotta go back to Chapter 1, what the hell are you doing on this page, seriously? if you have come to the conclusion that you are indeed on the right page then i'm lovin' you like a £5 Escort at the end of a night. Please read, PLEASE review, my e-mail inbox has been lonley without you! And just so you all know, this chapter has more fluff than a fluffy thing laying on a matress made of fluff in a cloud of fluffy stuff...aren't my powers of discription absolutly astounding?

Just realised as well, this story has no disclamer, does that mean i actualy do own Naruto? I hear you ask! HOW ABOUT NOOOOOooooooo! All that I posess is locked in a lockbox, under the floorboard of my bedroom, the combonation to which is 3627...and i shouldn't have told you that...SHUT UP AND READ THE STORY!

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Naruto looked at the sleeping form of Hyuga Hinata, he smiled as he stooped to kiss her forehead, all the while, still gently brushing her left cheek with his thumb. Hinata stirred from her sleep and stared into the brilliant blue eyes that still made her weak at the knees. "Why are you still up...Hokage-Sama?" she purred as she moved closer to Naruto (as if that was possible). Tsunade had stepped down the previous day, keeping the promise she made to him on his 18th birthday, that she would do so when he turned 21 (that and she thought that 3 years was long enough to pound everything he needed to know into him). "I guess I'm going to have to get used to that." Naruto laughed to himself.

"I was thinking about the day we both ate ramen together for the first time."

"Oh yea..." Hinata replied nostalgically "...Our first date."

"It wasn't really a date, Hina-chan."

"Naruto-kun, you bought me dinner, we went for a walk, sat and talked then sat and held hands while watching the sunset, after that you walked me home and we kissed for the first time. It was defiantly a date!"

"Point taken." He chuckled to himself "I can't believe it took me so long to realise how I felt about you, then again I probably shouldn't complain to you about me not noticing obvious things, should I?" Naruto asked, snaking an arm round her, pulling her up for a kiss.

"You were clue-less back then, and I was too insecure to actually tell you until...well you know...but to be honest I was too insecure about everything, my family, my position in my clan, my skills as a ninja, my personality, my body."

Naruto quickly shut her up with another kiss. "First off, Neji is doing a great job as Clan head...your family has never been as influential, powerful and, not to mention, happy. It was you that that made that happen. You and your dad have never been closer and Hanabi...is she still denying that she is dating Konohamaru?"

"Yea, although it's a good thing that she is more upfront with him than I was with you, Konohamaru-kun is as clueless as you were." Hinata giggled.

"Well...someone should tell her that he is going around the village telling everyone he can find. Where was I?...Oh yea, you are, and have always been, one of the best Kunoichi in the entire elemental nations..." reassured Naruto as he wrapped his arms round her for yet another tender kiss. "you jumped in front of Pain...PAIN! Ero-sennin went up against him, and couldn't defeat him, Baa-chan was in a coma for weeks after she fought him, it took me almost everything Ihad to beat him and you stood up to him and lived..." he looked into her eyes as his huge foxy grin appeared "...and your body..." with her hands occupied, wrapped round his neck, the blond ninja threw the cover off his bed exposing the beauty beside him in nothing but a pair of blue cotton underwear and one of Naruto's t-shirts, which she had on permanent loan, and usually covered her underwear, but with her arms enfolded round his neck the t-shirt rode up giving full view to anyone privy to it.

"N-n-naruto-kun!" she blushed

Now that he understood why she did it, he couldn't help himself, he loved making her blush. It was the cutest thing she did, in his opinion. "...Look at you Hina-chan, you are beyond perfection, there isn't a part of you I don't love. I love your legs..." Naruto lowered himself to trail kissed from her left calf to her thigh. "...I love your stomach..." he moved the t-shirt up as he placed a gentle kiss next to her belly button while she shivered under his touch. "...I love your hands..." he brushed each hand with his lips, but keeping eye contact with her. "...I love your heart..." he moved the low neck like of the t-shirt to the right so he could place a kiss on the spot below the scar she got from Pain, where her heart was, kissing the scar itself as he moved up. "...I love your neck..." he smiled to himself as he kissed that sweet spot on her neck that he know drove her crazy. "...I love your chin..." he whispered as he laid a series of kisses moving from her chin up her jaw-line to her ear, which he immediately started nibbling on, as she started to moan softly, "...I love the sounds you make when I do that..." he said as he moved back to where he was. "...I really love your lips..." the couple then spent the next few moments embraced in a passionate kiss. "...I really, really love your lips..." he smiled. "...I love your nose..." he gently brushed their noses together, while resting his forehead on Hinata's, looking straight into her eyes, seeing the lavender tint that could calm down within a single moment, "...but most of all, Hinata-chan, I love your eyes. Not because of the Byakugan, or how they somehow make you even more beautiful." Hinata blushed and cupped his cheek with her right hand, rubbing his right arm with her left hand as he held himself over her looking at her with those brilliant cerulean eyes that she had fallen in love with so long ago, she wanted to talk, respond to him in some way, tell him that she loved him, but she knew Naruto was on a roll and, if she was honest, she didn't want him to stop, he would compliment her lavishly everyday they were together and she loved it, she had spent so much time under constant scrutiny from her family and, especially, her father, so when she and Naruto started dating she didn't know how to cope with all the compliments, she would blush furiously whenever he did so, but in time she had grown to love all the little things he did and said and loved him even more for it.

"I love you eyes..." he continued "...because I can see your compassion, kindness, selflessness, conviction and love. I see the woman who gave up her position as clan head to her cousin, not only for what she saw as the best for her clan, but to unite the main and branch houses in a single act. I see the woman who jumped in front of an opponent she thought she wouldn't be able to beat, to save the person she loved, with no knowledge of how they felt for her and still, would do it a thousand times over. A small tear falls from her eye and rolls down her cheek to the pillow below. Naruto cups her cheek and brushes the tear-line away with his thumb as he beams at her. "When I look into your eyes, Hinata-chan, I see my home, the place where I belong, where I have and will always belong, the place where I am loved." Naruto holds himself above Hinata for a moment longer, lavender locked with brilliant blue, before stooping to kiss her softly, "I see you, Hinata-chan, I see all that you are, all that you have been and all that you have the potential to be...and I love every...single..bit...of it." He finished, punctuating his last few words with kisses.

"Oh, Naruto-kun." Was all Hinata could say.

"Of course, your still weird..." he added with a his foxy smirk that he reserved for Hinata alone. "...but your my kinda weird. Besides, normal is boring."

"Well you must be the most abnormal person in the worl, Naruto-kun." Hinata replied with a smirk of her own, as she pulled him down for another passionate kiss that lasted a good while. "Anyway, you better get some sleep, your first official day as Hokage starts tomorrow...and you're going to need your energy for your first _night_ as Hokage." She purred into his ear with a devious look on her face. No one could deny that being with Naruto had had an effect on her, especially Naruto, and he loved her evem more for it.

"Don't worry Hina-chan, you know I have the most stamina of any ninja, plus, I have my clones...Sage Mode...and the Kyuubi's chakra if I need it." He answered, matching her smirk.

Hinata just blushed as she hid her face in his chest, pulling him down next to her and snuggling up next to him, face still imbedded in his chest. Naruto smiled to himself as he ran a hand through her silk-like raven hair, holding her close. Thoughts of the future filled his head as he slowly drifted off into the embrace of the sleep world. He gazed at Hinata through half lidded eyes, pictures flooded his head, of their first child, their wedding, second child, and possibly third, depending on Hinata's feelings, he could see himself growing old with Hinata, giving up his position as Hokage, probably to Konohamaru and probably just to shut him up. At least that's plan, or it would be if Naruto could actually stick to a plan. That was why he was delighted when Shikamaru stormed into **his** office the enxt day and near on demanded to be his advisor. The thing that Naruto found the funniest was the look on Shikamaru's face as he asked, he looked both scared and depressed at the fact that he was actually asking. Naruto just put it down to 'that Troublesome Woman' that Shikamaru kept mumbling about after Naruto told him 'I was just about to ask you that exact question anyways' and gave him that big grin of his. To which Shikamaru's replied 'Troublesome wife, troublesome blondes, this is going to cut down on my cloud watching time' as he walked out of Naruto's office. Naruto stared at the, now, closed door. Leaning back in his chair, Naruto glanced out his window.

"I gotta get Hinata-chan a ring, I should probably ask her father first though."

End

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It's the shortest chapter I have ever done, so I may update it at a later date with a Shika/? Omake, if you want this to happen, send me a message with a big YES! and who with. Looking at the last paragraphit would seem that I left open, to interpretation, who Shikamaru's wife would be would be for this very purpose, very conincidental is it not? XP Vote. Drink. Be Merry. Read, Review, Recomend (i'm trying to get that last one added to the 'R&R' staple that has been adopted by most writers on hereso it becomes R&R&R, just for shiz'n'gigglez) and if I don't update before such a time that I get to say this, have a happy Winter Solstice!

So...once again 'R&R&R' See ya next time hopefully.


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